Sarwar: Transport problem in central belt like island ferries would be scandal

Transport issues hitting Scotland’s central belt in the same way as ferry disruption would be a “national scandal”, Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said.

Mr Sarwar took his party’s election campaign to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis on Monday, where he pledged to cut bureaucracy in the ferry network by merging operator CalMac with ferry procurement body Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to form a new agency.

The new body would also include representatives of islands on their board.

The announcement comes during a period of “unprecedented” pressure on CalMac, with eight of the operator’s vessels out of service at some point in the past week.

Speaking to STV News at the town’s ferry terminal, Mr Sarwar said a government he runs would “get the basics right”.

“We seek to meet the needs and aspirations of islanders,” he said.

“But, right now, that’s simply not good enough and islanders see it every single day.

“Why should they have to accept this as tolerable?

“If this was a train service between Glasgow and Edinburgh, it would be fixed by now, it’d be a national disgrace and a national scandal and people would not be tolerating it.

“Why are we asking islanders to tolerate this mess?

“I’m not willing to do that and that’s why we’ll fix this mess by delivering a new ferries agency, by guaranteeing representation for islanders and by having a procurement process that meets the needs and aspirations of islanders.”